Sunday, June 22, 2014

A glowing tribute to Andaman and Nicobar
Islands Integrated Development Corporation Ltd (ANIIDCO), the business arm of A
& N Admn on its 26th Foundation Day, which falls on 28 June 2014.

By Zubair Ahmed

On a Monday morning like today, I was waiting at
Goal Ghar junction for an auto. Saw one coming from Haddo side, stopped it and
asked the driver to take me to ANIIDCO. Without wasting time, he surged ahead
and sped his auto and within a few seconds came to a screeching halt at
Junglighat. Puzzled, I looked towards the driver. He smiled pointing his finger
towards a shop on the left side of the road. Before I could say anything, he
said, "Saab,
ANIIDCO aa gaya,
yahan beedh kam hai."

And that was general knowledge for me. In fact, I
wanted to go to ANIIDCO 'corporate' office next to Raj Niwas, But, the auto
driver, a very loyal brand ambassador of ANIIDCO knew very well where to take
me. And that is ANIIDCO for majority of the Islanders.

Whatever the objective for which ANIIDCO was founded.
"Developing and commercially exploiting the natural resources for the balanced
and environment friendly development of the territory on sound business
principles." One thing is for sure, it's one activity truly reflects its
tagline - Touching the Lives of People!

Nobody in the Islands
touch your lives like ANIIDCO do. They even touch the lives of the un-contacted
ones! From Diglipur to CampbellBay, they touch
everybody's life including the Jarawas, Great Andamanese, Onges and may be we
aren't sure - the Sentinalese too!

Its Midas touch, and whoever had the prospect of
being touched by ANIIDCO will vouch, how much their lives have changed. Not
just the lives of individuals, it drastically changes the lives of the whole
family.

ANIIDCO takes special care of the poor illiterate
Islanders. They treat everyone with equal care. They know that the gullible
Islanders wont be able to pronounce Champagne
(Champaag-nee) and many other premium brands. The self-service liquor shops in a couple
of places saves the poor people from embarrassment. They can just pick one
without uttering a single word.

All the 13 liquor outlets ANIIDCO operates are very
close to the main road making it very convenient for the Islanders to locate it
easily and remain in touch always.

ANIIDCO knows its priorities quite well. There was
huge demand for a petrol pump at Havelock
since a decade, but ANIIDCO realized that more than petrol and diesel, the easiest
way to touch the lives of people will be through a self-service liquor shop and
they put it in their plan for 2012-13 and achieved the target in no time.

The A&N Admn has always helped ANIIDCO
achieve its goals. With changing times, the revisions incorporated in the
Excise Policy for the Islands reflect the
commitment of the Administration in fulfilling the aspirations of all
Islanders. In 2008-2009, the Excise Policy prohibited selling or supply of
liquor to any Andamanese or Nicobarese or any other Scheduled Tribes.

How can the Excise Policy of 2010-2013 be same?
There has to be some progress. Hence, it was changed into "the licensee
will not sell or supply liquor to any 'Aboriginal' Scheduled Tribes of Andaman
and Nicobar Islands.

Very conveniently Nicobarese were excluded as they
are supposedly mainstreamed and they too need to experience the Midas touch. How
can ANIIDCO be unfair to Nicobarese? Although, officially there are no outlets in
Nicobar or Kamorta, but they can avail the facilities at the outlets in Port
Blair.

The Administration is not bothered whether you get
uninterrupted water supply, power supply, internet connection or even fuel.
They don't have any provision to penalize anybody if they fail in delivering
the above services. But, that is not the case with liquor. As it touches the
lives of the majority, in the Excise Policy 2010-13, one can find the following
clause:

"The Licensee (ANIIDCO in this case) in
Form "C" shall keep three months stock in his warehouse of all the
brands approved for sale in the Union Territory of A&N Islands so that
uninterrupted supply to the retail vends/outlets can be maintained throughout
the licensing year. In case, the licensee fails to maintain the required stock,
penal action will be initiated as deemed fit by the Secretary (Excise), A&N
Administration."

It would be unfair, if
ANIIDCO is just judged by its IMFL division. But the link is very strong. It would make
more sense if we have a look into many other trades and businesses they are
into.

The total turnover of
ANIIDCO in 2012-13 was Rs 207 crores and the profit before taxation was Rs
16.16 crore. Now it would be easy to analyze the whole business of ANIIDCO.

In 2012-13 they made an
operating profit of Rs 62.86 lakhs from Steel sales. In POL Division, it made a
profit of Rs 1.47 crores. In Tourism Division, it earned a profit of Rs 36.50
lakhs. In Milk Division, the books show a loss of Rs 13.59 Lakhs. In Air
ticketing, ANIIDCO made a loss of Rs 1.45 Lakhs. In Credit and Finance
Division, it made an operating profit of Rs 4.99 Crores.

And now lets have a look
into the profits they earned by selling liquor. In 2012-13, they earned an
operating profit of Rs. 12 Crores. The
total income through Liquor Sales was Rs 120.46 Crores and the Expenditure was
Rs 108.46 Crores.

Out of operating profit of
Rs 16 Crores, ANIIDCO's lion share of profit of Rs 12 Crores came from liquor
sales!

Every year, liquor sales is
picking up. In 2011, the profit was Rs 8.12 Crores. In 2012, it went up to Rs
11.23 Crores.

And, by touching the lives
of people, ANIIDCO could also contribute Rs 54.89 Crores to the Exchequer
through Sales Tax, Octroi, Excise Duty, Income Tax and License Fee. What an
achievement!

Don't ask about the poor
performance of milk division and air ticketing division. If you raise the
issue, both divisions might face the same fate as Vegetable and Fruit Division.
Better leave it there or they will act like real "corporate."

Whenever ANIIDCO touched
the lives of the Islanders, many other agencies were also activated to do their
bit. In fact the amount spend from LG Relief Fund, and the expenses borne by GB
Pant Hospital and many others on treating those touched by ANIIDCO need not be
calculated.

Who cares why the suicide
rates, road accidents, domestic violence and broken families have increased in
the Islands, when the bottom line is quite
encouraging.

More than financial
benefit, ANIIDCO needs to be recognized by United Nations for their yeomen
service in keeping the population growth in check. And also reducing the
lifespan of the Islanders and helping many more to get government employment.

Moreover, they are not
sitting idle basking in the glow light of fame. ANIIDCO has proposed to create
a fund of 3% for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. The amount
of Rs 30.55 Lakhs will be used to promote the sports of sailing. Indeed, the need
of the hour!

ANIIDCO, in fact had many
projects in its kitty - Undersea Cable Project, Tourism Projects, Shipping
etcetera.. etcetera.. But, honchos in the Administration felt that these
projects wont be in line with their motto of touching the lives of people.
Hence, they are asked to do the one best thing they are capable of doing - Sell
Liquor!

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About The Light of Andamans

The Light of Andamans’ was born out of the zeal and determination to fight against the suffocating Kafkaesque atmosphere on the society that existed even after 30 years of Independence under bureaucratic rule. It was a hangover of the ‘Raj’that extended much too long in the Islands.

The Light of Andamans’ was started in 1975. The paper had always been a crusader, taking up the causes that no other newspaper would touch. In doing so, it very often stepped on the toes of the authorities and had to face persecution in the form of denial of advertisements and numerous court cases against it. For a small stint, the publication came to a halt in 2003.

Gezira Publications Private Limited took over the paper in the year 2005 and transferred the title in a bid to revive the second oldest newsmagazine from extinction and also to carry forward the mission.

The Newsmagazine, under the new management, has undergone a sea change both in form and content. It turned into a full-fledged tabloid with 10 pages with plenty of photographs making both pleasing to the eyes and soothing for the mind. “It has acquired a position where it influences the policies in vital matters concerning the development of the islands, protection of aboriginal tribes and addressing the problems of the disadvantaged groups. The newsmagazine is known and appreciated for its bold, free, fair and balanced reporting.”

Late Govinda Raju and his team worked very hard to rebuild the reputation, goodwill and a healthy new image of the newsmagazine brick by brick. After the demise of Mr Raju in 2010, the magazine is now being edited by Zubair Ahmed and published by Basudev Dass. The newsmagazine continues its mission of highlighting policy issues pertaining to the Islands.